“One of the most important events in the Old Testament era was the fall of Jerusalem and the capture of God’s people. Due to the hard-heartedness of the people and their leaders, including the despising of His Word, God displayed His justice and wrath through His punishment of His people. Yet even here, in this display of God’s justice, we see how God preserves a remnant of people who will carry the hope of His promise to make all things new through a Messiah.” – The Gospel Project

Theological Theme:

God [ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] patiently pursues sinners, but His patience will one day come to an end.

Christ Connection:

God righteously punished His people for their sin, but He remained faithful to them and kept the promise He made to David to preserve a remnant and provide a king. Ultimately, God punished our sin through His Son, Jesus, and made Him our King forever.

Missional Application:

God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to listen to His Word and proclaim His patience and righteousness to others while there is still time.

The heart of humanity is desperately wicked and in need of replacement. Because no one is able to perfectly obey the law, God promised a new covenant, one not written on stone or parchment but written instead on the hearts of His people. This is a promise concerning the coming day of Jesus, fulfilled in the gospel. In the gospel, God not only writes His law on our hearts but also gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit, who indwells every believer. – The Gospel Project

Theological Theme:

In the new covenant, we are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, who enables us to obey God’s [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] law.

Christ Connection:

The problem in Jeremiah’s day was the people had God’s law but were unable to obey Him due to the sinfulness of their hearts. Jeremiah prophesied about a coming day when God would forgive sin and write His law on the hearts of His people. This prophecy is fulfilled in the gospel. Through Jesus, God offers us forgiveness. Through the Holy Spirit, God enables us to obey His commands.

Missional Application:

God calls us to rely on the Holy Spirit as we obey God’s commands and live on mission for His kingdom.

“A new heart [is] compelled by the Spirit to obedience. It is a voluntary obedience springing from a heart that has been transformed and captivated by the Redeemer.” –Timothy Lane and Paul David Tripp

“Jeremiah was called, even before he was born, to be God’s prophet. Because his prophetic message was contrary to what his people wanted to hear, Jeremiah faced opposition and persecution. Nevertheless, Jeremiah remained faithful to God’s call despite the obstacles. In Jeremiah’s grief, we see a picture of the tender heart of God, most fully expressed in Jesus’ weeping for the unrepentant people of Jerusalem. From Jeremiah, we also learn that the God who calls us to deliver His message is the God who will empower us for His mission.” – The Gospel Project

Theological Theme:

God [ Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] equips those He has chosen to minister in His name.

Christ Connection:

Jeremiah’s love for his people was so great that he often delivered God’s message in tears, to the point that he is known as the “weeping prophet.” In Jeremiah’s grief, we see a picture of the tender heart of God, most fully expressed in Jesus’ weeping for the people of Jerusalem who would not repent.

Missional Application:

God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to trust Him to overcome the obstacles we may face in carrying out His mission in our lives.

“The Lord delivers…not so that the prophet will be free of persecutions and difficulties, for we read that Jeremiah was severely afflicted. Instead, the Lord liberates one who suffers everything to overcome these tribulations rather than yielding to them.” –Jerome (circa 345-420)

“God [Father, Son and Spirit] goes to great lengths to pursue people, even when they have no interest in being found. God pursues sinners of all kinds in order to bring them to Himself. Jonah was a prophet who rejected God’s call and ran away from his enemies. Unlike Jonah, Jesus heard God’s call and ran toward His enemies. While we were still sinners, He died for us, and now He commissions us as His people to pursue others with the good news of His love.” – The Gospel Project

Theological Theme:

Salvation belongs to God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Christ Connection:

Jonah was a prophet who rejected God’s call and ran away from his enemies. Jesus heard God’s call and ran toward His enemies. While we were still sinners, He died for us.

Missional Application:

God through His Holy Spirit, calls us to put aside our tribal attitudes and break down walls as we share the news that forgiveness is possible through repentance and faith.

“God breaks down walls and leads His people out into the world with good news: forgiveness is possible through repentance and faith. Tribal attitudes melt away when constantly exposed to the warm embrace of our missionary God.” –Trevin Wax

“The life and, in particular, the marriage of God’s prophet Hosea shows us the great lengths that God goes to in order to pursue the people He loves. Despite our unfaithfulness, God loves us still and is willing to take on the personal cost and sacrifice of bringing us into and keeping us in right relationship with Him. Because of His love, God continually goes after unfaithful people like us, and in this pursuit, He provides a model for how we are to pursue others with the good news of His love.” – The Gospel Project

“The ultimate happiness in life is the conviction that one is loved; loved for oneself—better still loved in spite of oneself.” – Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

The initiative for our salvation is in the loving heart of God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

“He lifts us up out of ourselves to participate in the very life and communion of the Godhead, that life of communion for which we were created.” – J.B. Torrance, Worship Community and the Triune God of Grace.(Pg. 22)

Christ Connection:

Hosea’s relationship with Gomer reminds us of God’s relationship with the people of Israel, and with us. Even though God’s people are unfaithful and love other things more than God, God still loves us. It was because of His love that God sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sin and bring us back to Him.

“He [Jesus] does not appease an angry God to condition Him into being gracious, but in perfect acknowledgment of the holy love of the Father for a sinful world, seals God’s covenant purposes for all humanity by His blood.” – J.B. Torrance, Worship Community and the Triune God of Grace. (Pg. 49)

Missional Application:

God through His Holy Spirit calls us to pursue others with the good news about the God who pursues us at great cost to Himself.

“God’s glory is personally beneficial to those who follow Him. Understanding God’s glory reveals the certainty with which we can receive His promises. There is never a dichotomy between displaying God’s greatness and resting in His love. The ancient story of Assyria’s calloused threats against Judah during the reign of King Hezekiah illustrates that God saves us for the glory of His name and for our good. We, in turn, make known His glory so that others will rest in His grace.”– The Gospel Project

Theological Theme:

God the Father saves us for the glory of His name and for our good.

Christ Connection:

Hezekiah prayed for God to manifest His glory by saving His people from the pagan kingdom that was rising against them. God exalted His name by answering Hezekiah’s prayer. Jesus also prayed for the salvation of His people, and through His death and resurrection, He accomplished the ultimate manifestation of God’s glory through defeating the enemy and saving His people.

Missional Application:

God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to live on mission for His kingdom because we know that God is victorious over His enemies.

Hundreds of years before Christ was born, Isaiah prophesied about a mysterious Servant who would be rejected and despised yet bring salvation through His suffering. The early Christians believed this prophecy was made about Jesus and His life and work. As those who benefit from the service and suffering of Jesus, we now embrace a life of suffering and service on behalf of others. – The Gospel Project

Theological Theme

Salvation comes through the suffering of God- Father, Son and Spirit’s chosen Servant.

Christ Connection

Hundreds of years before Jesus was born, God opened the eyes of Isaiah to see the coming Savior with detail no one had seen before. Isaiah prophesied about a mysterious Servant who would be rejected and despised and yet accomplish salvation through His suffering. The New Testament shows that this prophecy is about Jesus and His work.

Missional Application

As those who benefit from the service and suffering of Jesus, we, through His Holy Spirit, now embrace a life of suffering and service on behalf of others.

“The Servant would be regarded as a great conqueror, one who shares the spoils of victory with his followers. Victory, however, would come only through the fact that the Servant was willing to suffer as a sin-bearer and pour out himself in death. Through his death and resurrection he made intercession (53:12).” – James E. Smith

The prophet Isaiah had a vision of God high and lifted up—holy and glorious in His temple. In light of God’s piercing holiness, Isaiah received a proper vision of his own sin and unworthiness. But God, in His grace, restored Isaiah to service and gave the prophet a message for the people. Like Isaiah, we too are undone by the vision of God’s glory, but through His grace, God deals with our sin and then commissions us to deliver His message of love to the world. – The Gospel Project

Theological Theme:

God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is holy and glorious beyond compare. “Our God is a consuming fire. He is satisfied only when His love totally consumes us…We should not resent the fact that God wants to guard our relationship with Him. It should bring us comfort.” – Henry T. Blackaby and Richard Blackaby

Christ Connection:

Isaiah had a vision of a throne room with a divine King. Jesus later claimed that Isaiah had seen His glory and thus the prophet’s words were about Him (John 12:32,41). Like Isaiah, when we see ourselves in light of God’s holiness, we recognize our sinful state and need for salvation.

Missional Application:

God, through His Holy Spirit, calls us to live in light of our salvation by willingly delivering His message to the world, no matter how unpopular it may be.

The prophet Elisha healed a foreigner named Naaman. This story gives us a beautiful illustration of our need for salvation and healing from God as well as the humility required to receive that healing. Unless we are humble enough to receive God’s salvation in the way He has planned, we will not be healed of our spiritual disease. Once we humbly receive His grace, however, we are then set free to testify to His goodness and reflect glory back to Him through our obedience.- The Gospel Project

Theological Theme:

Unless we are humble enough to receive God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit’s salvation in the way He has planned, we will not be healed of our spiritual disease.

Christ Connection:

Naaman was sick with a skin problem, and his disease went away only after he obeyed God’s instruction to wash in the river. All people are sick with a sin problem and in need of healing. God calls us to humbly repent and believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior so that our sin can be washed away.

Missional Application:

Like the servant girl in this story, we (through The Holy Spirit) are to point others to the place where their disease can be washed away.

No amount of effort, resources, or human connection can rescue us from the deadly prognosis of our moral infection. Left to ourselves, we will die in our trespasses and sins despite our attempts to the contrary. Apart from the compassionate interruption of the cross, our lives spiral toward certain death and judgment (Rom. 1:18-19).

The good news is that Jesus Christ bore the leprosy of our soul by sacrificing Himself for us (Isa. 53:4). Jesus is not the best hope we have; He is the only hope we have. Receiving the grace of God through His Son in no way diminishes the offense of our fallen existence. If anything, Christ’s insistence that He must do for us what we cannot do for ourselves reinforces how painfully wicked we are apart from God’s rescue.- The Gospel Project

“After the events on Mount Carmel, the prophet Elijah succumbed to discouragement and despair. In response to Elijah’s circumstances, God revealed Himself. The God who sent down fire from heaven in a bold and spectacular display of His power is the same God who whispered to Elijah in a quiet moment of sustaining grace. God strengthens us in our despair, challenges the lies we believe, and then ministers to us through His Word and through His people. As the recipients of God’s grace, we, in turn, rely on His power to deliver His message of comfort.“- The Gospel Project

“What God The Father has revealed about Himself through Jesus and in The Scriptures and by The Holy Spirit is that He both shouts and whispers” – Pastor Timothy Brassell

Theological Theme

God- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is gracious to reveal Himself to His people.

Christ Connection

Elijah was a prophet who faced persecution and opposition from those who rejected God. His example points forward to Jesus, the greatest prophet, who endured opposition for delivering God’s Word.

Missional Application

God- through His Holy Spirit, calls us to rely on Him for the strength we need to deliver His message.

“Not being reconciled to the fact of sin— not recognizing it and refusing to deal with it— produces all the disasters in life. You may talk about the lofty virtues of human nature, but there is something in human nature that will mockingly laugh in the face of every principle you have. If you refuse to agree with the fact that there is wickedness and selfishness, something downright hateful and wrong, in human beings, when it attacks your life, instead of reconciling yourself to it, you will compromise with it and say that it is of no use to battle against it. Have you taken this “hour, and the power of darkness” into account, or do you have a view of yourself which includes no recognition of sin whatsoever? In your human relationships and friendships, have you reconciled yourself to the fact of sin? If not, just around the next corner you will find yourself trapped and you will compromise with it. But if you will reconcile yourself to the fact of sin, you will realize the danger immediately and say, “Yes, I see what this sin would mean.” The recognition of sin does not destroy the basis of friendship— it simply establishes a mutual respect for the fact that the basis of sinful life is disastrous. Always beware of any assessment of life which does not recognize the fact that there is sin.

Jesus Christ never trusted human nature, yet He was never cynical nor suspiciousbecause He had absolute trust in what He could do for human nature. The pure man or woman is the one who is shielded from harm, not the innocent person. The so-called innocent man or woman is never safe. Men and women have no business trying to be innocent; God demands that they be pure and virtuous. Innocence is the characteristic of a child. Any person is deserving of blame if he is unwilling to reconcile himself to the fact of sin.”- Oswald Chambers

“God is calling us to be pure and virtuous….we are being called right now to recognize that even though this Great Grace is upon us and it’s all true that Christ still stands in for us and we are perfect in Him…it [also] means our participation, and that participation isn’t false….it is just by faith. It is the obedience of faith……God is calling us to think more out of this and really live and participate and not be so run over by this world and so accommodating to it, and to trust Him to be God. “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” Galatians 6: 10 ” -Pastor Timothy Brassell.